Tips for stretch films

1. Store the plastic film rolls upright in their original packaging in a dry place, out of the sunlight.

2. Our high quality boxes provide complete protection for the reels. The box has a zip opening ensuring the carton remains in one piece.

3. Ensure the centre of the stretch unit is aligned with the centre of the bale. This applies to both round and square bales. If the alignment is not correct poor overlapping (<50%) could occur, resulting in loss of feed quality.

4. Your stretch unit should be clean and in good condition. Avoid overstretching the film. Overstretching could create a poor overlap. You can check the stretch by drawing stripes on the film every 10cm. Pull the film through the stretch unit. A distance of 17cm between the stripes means 70% stretch.

5. Take good care of your cutting device and check it regularly. If the equipment does not work well, it will cause long tails. This problem can be avoided by replacing the knife.

6. Make the swath rectangular and uniform in shape to ensure well-pressed bales containing a minimum volume of oxygen.

7. Six layers of film will typically guarantee one year’s preservation, with dry matter content up to 50%. Higher dry matter content requires more layers.

8. We advise wrapping pressed bales within two hours. Unwrapped bales will slowly heat up resulting in loss of silage quality.

9. When using a tube-liner, please make sure to apply additional layers of plastic to support the joint of two bales.

10. We do not recommend wrapping in very dusty environments. This can result in dust build-up between the layers, which could affect the tack and eventually the silage quality.

11. To minimise the risk of water between the layers in square bales, ensure the last layer is on the top side of the bale. There is a potential risk that water pockets will be created if the last layer is wrapped at the side of the bale.

13. To avoid birds attacking your bales, stack them as fast as possible and cover them with a protective net.

14. If you have any further questions regarding our films, do not hesitate to contact our experienced team!

Instructions and recommendations for the optimal use of bale wrap

Videos related to the use of our bale wrap and silage films